RBC Young Leaders Programme brings out Cayman’s Brightest

By Stuart Wilson

Clifton Hunter High School took home the highly coveted first place prize and CI$15,000 as part of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Young Leaders Programme at an award ceremony held at the Indigo Hotel in Grand Cayman on 29th May.

Students at the school won the competition for their ‘Plastic to Purpose’ initiative which seeks to transform plastic bottles thrown in the trash into polo-shirts.

The funds received from RBC will assist in making the undertaking a reality. 

This year’s theme for the RBC Young Leaders Program was Creating a Sustainable Future and 6 schools vied for the first place title in the competition, which gives young people, who are the future leaders of society, the opportunity to come up with innovative ideas to aid in problem solving.

Cayman Islands Premier Andre Ebanks reminded the students of the importance of their contribution and said consulting with young people for the ideas that can make a change was often overlooked in the grand scheme of things.

“We have to ask young people how to fix things,” said Mr. Ebanks, who added that he hoped the exercise and challenge of problem solving started by the youngsters on hand was continued by them into the future, as one day they could very well be standing in his shoes.

Second Place in the Young Leaders Programme went to St. Ignatius with ’’A Caymankind Future’, which won CI$10,000 to bring their project to life, whilst third place went to John Gray High School,  with, ‘The Future is Bright - Bio Diversity and Green Spaces,’ which was awarded CI$6,000.

Prizes were also given for Most Innovative, which went to Clifton Hunter for Plastic to Purpose. Best Oral Presentation went to St. Ignatius for A Cayman Kind of Future and Best Written Presentation, also went to Plastic to Purpose.

Awardees received CI$250 each for these distinctions.

Zara Majid of Cayman International School (CIS) took home the outstanding speaker award and CI$750.00.

“The Young Leaders program is RBC’s flagship youth development program, that demonstrates the Bank’s commitment to investing in the next generation of leaders for a stronger Caribbean,” explained RBC Senior Vice President Chris Duggan. He added that, “This program is part of RBC’s vision to invest in our youth to give them the tools to help them realize their potential.”

Premier Ebanks was joined by several other members of Parliament including Ministers Isaac Ranking, Michael Myles, Rolston Anglin, Deputy Premier Gary Rutty and Parliamentary Secretaries Heather Bodden and Julie Hunter to hand out awards and support the students at the event.

Each of the school groups were assigned a chaperone from RBC, who assisted with the development of their projects and guided them throughout the process. 

Schools participating in this year’s program included Clifton Hunter High School, Cayman International School, St Ignatius Catholic School, Cayman Prep & High School, Triple C School, and John Gray High School.